I remember screaming...
Like a dream that lingers only long enough to leave an imprint in the back of ones mind, when I awoke I felt as though I heard screaming....but there was nothing to hear now but my own breathing and the soft hum of the walls. something cold and metal lay against my back, but try as I might I couldn't push myself forward....restraints kept me secure at the arms, legs and waist.
"Your awake.....good." A voice whispered in my ears. "You can see, you are aware." The voice sounded muffled, like it was spoken through a wall. "Now look..."
An object stood on a pedestal in front of me. I stared...as the voice instructed me. The object was ugly, geometrically and physically, and it gave me a headache to look at...perhaps something about it didn't sit right with my brain.
I blinked.
The object was gone...or rather, or was now on the floor. Nothing had moved it, nothing could have...not in the moment between a blink. I gasped....I blinked.
The object was against the far wall.
I blinked.
The object was on my chest. I took the air into my lungs as I prepared to scream....but a voice whispered and the air held in my lungs. A single, delicate hand reached out and lifted the object...and a figure stepped in front of me, cradling the artifact in her arm as a mother would a child. She was a odd woman, eyes like deep pits and some sort of muzzle strapped across her face. I knew who she was.....of course I did......I had been dreading this moment, this meeting.
"An interesting sample....." Baba Yaga asked me as she held the rock up level to my eyes. Her eyes locked with mine, seen my confusion, and she turned. "It comes from a place no human has ever seen....no, living human.....It exists in a state of Quantum Flux. It stabilizes when observed, and slips into an unstable state when not observed.....where it exists in all possible positions simultaneously. It attunes itself to the perceptions of a entity with conscious observation...seeking stability within that beings observable window. Look....this one has already grown fond of you."
Baba Yaga crushed the rock with her hand, the powder dissipating into nothingness. She turned to me, her hand sliding up my arm....and with a flick, the table tilts backwards until I am lying on my back, facing upwards at another frightended looking figure on the ceiling above.....it only takes me a moment to understand that the person is me.
"In this procedure, we will be infusing your bone, muscle, organ and skin issue with this element....the process is entirely automated, to achieve the desired results only you must observe the procedure. The material must attune itself to you and to you alone."
no...
"You will be fitted with special eyewear to limit your ability to blink, and apply liquid at specific intervals.....remember, you must maintain eye contact with your reflection for the entire procedure. No blinking, do no turn away, do no lose conscious observation of your reflection....if you do, quantum instability will trigger a shift on only the tissues and organs that have been infused. I don't have to explain that this will be a messy and painful end....."
..No please...
"The procedure will take around 14 hours....save your energy and do not scream, the pain will keep you conscious and alert. Remember....do no blink, you must keep your body in sight....every bone, every muscle....everything....."
I didn't ask for this....stop....
"We will begin with a lateral incision along the left leg....."
The horrible sounds of the rotating saws overwhelmed my senses....searing pain took the rest. My eyes stared unblinking as the first cut went deep....deeper......until I could hear the saw scrap bone and...
"NOOOO!"
~~~~
The Grey Ghost lurched upwards, sweat and tears staining her face.
It was a nightmare.....she was having a nightmare.
She must have dozed off while reading....it was already early morning.
"Who's Marie, your Maid?" Ange asked, eyeing the rich girl with a small level of amusement at her confusion.